Monday, February 8, 2016

LA Weekly's annual food event of the year is coming! The Essentials is returning on February 20 to California Market Center in downtown LA, featuring more than 40 restaurants. Curated by LA Weekly's food critic Besha Rodell, you can expect LA's top restaurants at this event. Among them are: Animal, AOC, Broken Spanish, Bestia, Connie and Ted's, ink, Jitlada, even Kiriko Sushi. Been wanting to try Curtis Stone's Maude and can't get in? Don't want to make the trek to SGV for Szechuan Impression? Come here instead.

The VIP tickets are already sold out, but there are still general admission tickets available for $70 per person which includes unlimited samples of food, beer, wine, and cocktails starting at 6pm. Part of the proceeds go to benefit Food Forward.

On December 12, Sips & Sweets brings together over 20 bakeries and pastry chefs, over 20 mixologists, and 20 craft and artisan vendors for an evening of drinking, shopping, and eating.

Grab a light dinner and head over for some desserts from Craft, Cake Monkey Bakery, Choctal, Salt & Straw and many more. There will be cocktails prepared by bartenders from Terrine, Corazon y Miel, The Varnish, Sassafras, Faith & Flower, among others. The Vendor Village will have all kinds of gift options from the edible ones to jewelries and even dog beds.

The event starts at 8pm, and the advance pricing (before November 29) is $40 for general admission, or you can buy the VIP ticket for $60 and get early admission plus a special gift bag. You can buy the tickets here, or try your luck with the giveaway below!

I'm partnering up with LA Weekly to give away 2 general admission tickets. Just follow the directions below, and good luck! :)

Monday, September 21, 2015

Need a day out? How does heading out to the horse races at Santa Anita Park while brunching on dishes from some of LA's best restaurants sound? If that sounds like a great day to you, then bookmark this upcoming event: Brunch at the Races.

On Saturday, October 18, LA Weekly is throwing a brunch at the Santa Anita Park.

Among the restaurants they've lined up are Auntie Em's, BierBeisl Imbiss, Go Get Em Tiger, Cassell's Hamburger, Goldie's, McConell's Fine Ice Creams, and more. There will be beer/wine/cocktails available as well. Eat, drink, watch the horse races, or maybe place a bet on one of the horses. Either way, you're in for a good time.

Tickets are $45 and grants you access to the event as well as full day admission into Santa Anita Park. For $65 you can get a VIP ticket that will get you access to a special VIP lounge and a gift bag. Parking at the park is $4.

But wait! For one of you lucky readers, LA Weekly has partnered with Gourmet Pigs to give away a pair of general admission tickets! Enter using the form below before the marked deadline, and good luck!

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Love wine? You can spend a whole weekend touring and tasting the wineries in Temecula Valley during next weekend's World of Wine weekend!

With this 2-day event you get a passport that you can use for barrel tasting and food pairing at more than 30 participating wineries along Rancho California and DePortola Roads. It's taking place next weekend on March 7-March 8, 2015 and the participating wineries will be open from 10am-4:30pm.
It's a self-drive tour and you get the wineries to stamp your passport along the way! This winter barrel tasting gives people a sneak peek of the upcoming spring releases.

The 2-day passport is $99 or you can also purchase a Sunday-only passport for $79. You can purchase tickets or find out more information here. Or go here for more information on lodging or wine tour packages.

Now, on to the good stuff, though. A giveaway! Maybe all this sounds great to you - wandering around Temecula Valley while drinking wine, but you need a little push to go there ... well, from now until midnight on Wednesday you can enter to win two Sunday-only passports ($158 value)! Just follow the instructions below and good luck!

Friday, December 12, 2014

It's almost Christmas and I know you all like wine ... so it's time for another wine event giveaway!

This time, it's for Slow Wine. Slow Wine basically embraces the Slow Food philosophy, showcasing small winemakers who use traditional techniques and respecting the environment. The Slow Wine event showcases 50 wine producers from 15 different Italian wine regions.

Early bird ticket is $45 each (until December 25) and $60 after that. You will also get a copy of the Slow Wine book ($25 value) with the ticket. The Guide has a list of over 300 wine producers. To purchase tickets and for more information, check here.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Think holiday shopping is stressful? Then you should go to LA Weekly's Sips and Sweets presented by Keurig, where you can shop through LA's artisanal vendors while eating sweets and cocktails prepared by LA's finest.

Oh, and you can even go for free if you win the ticket giveaway below. Lucky you.

But first, the event details. Sips and Sweets will be held on December 7th, from 2-5pm at The Majestic Downtown and The Reserve.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

On Monday, November 10, head on over to The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills for a taste of Spain's best wines and food. The event is called Spain's Great Match and will feature more than 200 Spanish wines. The wines will be accompanied by tapas from The Bazaar. We're talking 200+ wines with Chef Jose Andres' lauded food! Last year's bites include a taste of their famed molecular gastronomy techniques

There will also be a Cava Bubble Lounge. I don't know about you, but I love my bubbles.

Sounds good? Even better, at the end of this post you can enter a giveaway for 2 FREE TICKETS to this event!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Does drinking craft beers next to a lake (ok, a water reservoir) sound good to you? If so, check out the giveaway below for the California Beer Festival in San Dimas!

On Saturday, September 6, the annual beer festival is coming to the Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas. There will be over 60 beers poured at the event next to Puddingstone Reservoir, along with live music and bocce ball.

Among the breweries that will be pouring there are Hangar 24, Deschutes Brewery, Stone Brewery, Firestone Walker, Sierra Nevada, and many other smaller breweries like Ninkasi from Oregon. There will be food vendors on-site if you need to soak up all the beers.

General admission tickets are $45 which gets you all the beer samples and a souvenir glass, or you can get the VIP ticket for $70 for all that plus specialty brews, early admission, and access to the taco bar. You can purchase tickets here.

Oh, so you want to go for free? Well, luck you. They've offered up two general admission tickets ($45 value each) which gets you a souvenir glass and all the beer samples. There will be food for purchase.

To enter, just follow the directions in the widget. Remember, this giveaway ends on Tuesday, September 26!a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

As you may know from my post last week, the LA County Fair in Pomona is going on until September 30. Fun fried food, Star Trek exhibit, circus performers, beer and wine tasting ...

Because I attended the preview they gave me 4 admission tickets and a parking pass. Unfortunately for me, this month is crazy busy and I can't go so instead I'm giving away the tickets to you guys! I'll be splitting the prize into two so each winner will get two tickets and one will also get a parking pass :)
Just follow the instructions on the entry form below and good luck!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Plate by Plate is the annual fundraiser for Project by Project, which chooses a different nonprofit cause in the Asian American community each year. This year's event, which benefits East West Players, promises to be quite amazing with restaurants such as Bestia, Allumette, Alma, Petty Cash, Stella Barra, Park's Finest BBQ, Rivera, and so many more participating (and Drunken Udder for dessert)! For a complete list of the restaurants and beverage sponsors, check out this page.

There will also be tons of beverage sponsors including The Bruery, Rebel Winery, and various sake.

The event will take place this Saturday, August 3 at The Vibiana Cathedral in downtown and it's not too late to get tickets!
The tickets are $150 for general admission which starts at 7pm, and $250 for VIP admission which starts at 6pm and gets you access to the VIP lounge (with my favorite bar, 1886, along with Kali Dining and other exclusives).

Or ... you can try and win 2 General Admission tickets to the event by entering below!
The contest will end at 11pm on Thursday, August 1, and I will inform the winner on Friday morning. Be sure to check your emails and confirm immediately so I can tell the event coordinators. Good luck!